FDA - Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish

[quantumleap]

I like to eat a lot of fish and seafood. It doesn't make me too full like red meat does. However, one has to be careful of how much fish and seafood one eats since there is mercury in those foods. The fish you have to be especially careful with are the large predator fish like shark and swordfish since they eat smaller fish that contains mercury and it accumulates in the predator fish.

Here is a link to the FDA advisory (especially for women and children)-

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/admehg3.html
By following these 3 recommendations for selecting and eating fish or shellfish, women and young children will receive the benefits of eating fish and shellfish and be confident that they have reduced their exposure to the harmful effects of mercury.

1. Do not eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or Tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.
2. Eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.
   • Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.
   • Another commonly eaten fish, albacore ("white") tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. So, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) of albacore tuna per week.
3. Check local advisories about the safety of fish caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers, and coastal areas. If no advice is available, eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) per week of fish you catch from local waters, but don't consume any other fish during that week.
   
   

Follow these same recommendations when feeding fish and shellfish to your young child, but serve smaller portions.


Here is a link to the table of mercury levels in each kind of fish and shellfish-

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/sea-mehg.html